TALENTED young cricketers and novices to the game have come together in fun competition at two club's grounds this week.

Seventeen primary schools from east Durham have entered teams for the District of Easington Kwik Cricket Festival.

Murton CW and Peterlee cricket clubs have provided the venues for the easy-to-play version of the game, which is designed to promote cricket and make it more popular among schoolchildren.

Durham Cricket Board's development officer, Graeme Weekes, has worked in partnership with the district council's sports team, providing pre-event basic coaching for the youngsters on a series of school visits in recent weeks.

Armed with their new-found skills, the youngsters have competed in suitably sunny conditions over the two day-long festivals.

Easington sports development officer Richard Hill said many of the schools also boast players who have already enjoyed a thorough grounding of the game at some of the number of local league clubs in the district.

He said: "The good thing is they are able to play alongside children who were previously new to the game, and it's still made for good competition.

"The village clubs provide excellent coaching for young players these days and we're hoping that some of the emerging talent we identify in these events can benefit by going along to their local club teams."

New Seaham Primary beat South Hetton Primary in Tuesday's final, at Murton, while a second South Hetton side went one better by winning yesterday's festival, beating St Joseph's RC, from Blackhall, in the Peterlee final.